There is been an update on the United States and Russia’s agreement to swap Brittney Griner with ‘Merchant Of Death’ Viktor Bout, and according to Forbes;
A Russian official said Friday he expects a “positive result” from U.S. and Russia’s ongoing prisoner exchange negotiations involving convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout and American basketball star Brittney Griner, the latest in the diplomatic quarrel between the countries over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that landed one of the most prominent American athletes in a Russian penal colony.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters “the prospect not only remains but is being strengthened” of Bout returning to Russia in a deal likely involving Griner, and “the moment will come when we will get a concrete agreement.”
Ryabkov’s comments are the first public remarks by an American or Russian official that Bout would be part of a swap to return Griner to the U.S., according to the BBC.
The sliver of hope comes a day after Griner’s attorneys, Maria Blagovolina and Alexander Boykov, confirmed she was transferred to the IK-2 penal colony in Mordovia, Russia, saying in a statement they visited the American at the camp and “Brittney is doing as well as could be expected and trying to stay strong as she adapts to a new environment.”
Russian authorities first detained Griner in February after discovering a cannabis product in her luggage as the WNBA star traveled to play in the country’s basketball league during the WNBA offseason. The U.S. considers Griner wrongfully imprisoned, though she received a nine-year prison sentence in August. Griner’s appeal to shorten her sentence was rejected last month and she was transferred to a penal colony last week. The all-female Mordovia penal colony is about 300 miles outside of Moscow.
Bout became an avid painter while imprisoned, and an exhibition of Bout’s artwork was displayed in the Russian parliament Tuesday. Bout is 11 years into a 25-year prison sentence in Illinois for allegedly conspiring to kill Americans and selling millions of dollars of weapons to terrorist groups.
Flip to the next page for more to see why Viktor Bout is called the merchant of death.
